Minimally invasive surgical (MIS) instruments are often preferred over traditional open surgical devices due to reduced post-operative recovery time and minimal scarring and exposure to infection. Laparoscopic surgery is one type of MIS procedure in which one or more small incisions are formed in the abdomen and a trocar is inserted through the incision to form a pathway that provides access to the abdominal cavity. The trocar is used to introduce various instruments and tools into the abdominal cavity, as well as to provide insufflation to elevate the abdominal wall above the organs. The instruments and tools can be used to engage and/or treat tissue in a number of ways to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic effect. Endoscopic surgery is another type of MIS procedure in which elongate flexible shafts are introduced into the body through a natural orifice.
In MIS procedures, a scoping device can be used to view, engage, and/or treat tissue in a number of ways to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic effect. During a surgical procedure, the clarity of the view through a scoping device positioned within a patient's body can be diminished, such as by dragging across tissue walls, accumulating tissue and/or other bodily material, contacting other surgical instruments, etc. The view can become so blurred, distorted, and/or obstructed to the point that the scoping device becomes unusable for visualization and must be withdrawn from the patient's body for replacement with another scoping device or to remove any material that has accumulated on the scoping device before reinserting the scoping device into the body. However, due to difficulty in maneuvering caused by the flexible nature of the scoping device, to obstructions within the body, and/or to the impaired visualization, removal of the scoping device can be inconvenient, cause delays in the surgical procedure, and increase risks, such as contamination and tissue trauma caused by instrument removal and insertion. Upon reinsertion of the scoping device, or insertion of another scoping device, additional time is necessary for the surgeon to reorient the scoping device to a desired location within the body. Furthermore, blurring, distortion, and/or obstruction of a scoping device can occur multiple times throughout a surgical procedure, thereby requiring multiple rounds of scoping device withdrawal from the body prior to the end of the surgical procedure.
Accordingly, there remains a need for devices and methods for cleaning visualization instruments during surgical procedures.